Fragmented Soul
by archergirl14
Summary: Dragon Slayers are only born with half a soul, they're complete only when they've fully claimed their mates. The problem is that sometimes the claiming can damage the mate. Natsu has just started going through this change and it seems the mate he can hurt is his best friend Lucy... This story will have lemons later, sorry I suck at summaries. (Used to be Dragon Slayer Mating Heat.)
1. Intro to Mating Heat

Hey guys archergirl14 here writing her first Fairy Tail fanfiction, and of course it's a NaLu fic which is _**personally**_ my favorite Fairy Tail semi-canon pairing other than GaLe, Gruvia, and Jerza. There will be some of the other pairings throughout this fic but the main focus is on Natsu and Lucy. On and I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. Well on with the story…

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_Fragmented Soul - Chapter I_

Lucy could feel the sun streaming in through her window almost as if it were left open. At that thought she opened one eye to glance through the sunlight and right out through her open window, which is NOT how she left it last night.

Almost as if it were on queue a loud snore disturbed the peace in her room. Lucy sighed as she sat up in her comfy bed to look over to a pink tuff of hair peeking out from under her blankets, along with a long furry tail which she knew belonged to two someone's; namely Natsu Dragneel and Happy, two of her guild team partners.

On that note she lifted her foot up a bit and booted Natsu's flaming ass and Happy's furry butt out of her bed. A loud "oomph" noise sounded as Natsu's body met carpeted floor, oh how she wished it could have been hard wood so it would've hurt more. "Geez you two never learn." Lucy mumbled as she looked over the edge of her bed to the jumbled heap that was Natsu and Happy.

Natsu sat up on the floor rubbing sleep from his eyes, with a half-awake Happy perched on his head. "What did you do that for Luce?" He grumbled with a pout on his face, his forest green eyes finally making contact with her chocolate brown ones.

"I wouldn't have done it if I didn't wake up with you two in my bed." Lucy huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest, making her breasts look impossibly larger than they actually were. She shook her head as she climbed out of her bed, while she was stretching to get the kinks out of her back Natsu made a strange comment.

"Hey Luce, you smell different today." His eyebrows were furrowed as he sniffed the air. He unconsciously licked his lips when the thought occurred to him that this new scent smelled tasty. Natsu moved closer in her direction before her foot met his face, and he was sent rolling across the floor, which in turn caused Happy to float in mid-air to avoid Natsu's collision with the wall.

"Keep your nose away from me!" Lucy had blushed almost five shades of red when she realized her period had decided to stay one day longer than usual. Thanks to Natsu's comment she figured it out before she ruined her favorite pair of night shorts with blood… again. She rushed to the dresser as Natsu tried to right himself, it was great for her that she was fast so by the time he did she was already locked inside her bathroom.

"Geez Luce, you're weirder than I thought." Natsu grumbled as he stood up and stretched himself, Happy didn't agree with waking up because he just perched himself back atop Natsu's head and closed his eyes curling his tail around his small furry body.

"You're the weird one!" Lucy yelled through the door of her bathroom as she fixed her problem blushing beet red the whole time since Natsu was on the other side of the door. _He says I'm weird yet he eats and breathes fire, well that's Natsu for you._ She sighed as she washed her hands in the sink, before fixing her top and skirt while adjusting her belt holding her celestial spirit keys and whip.

When Lucy reemerged into her bedroom she noticed Natsu giving her that strange look again before his nose twitched slightly and he started toward her again, at this her eyes widened before she raced out of her apartment almost as if the flames of hell were at her heels, pretty ironic since that's exactly how it felt like trying to outrun the Fire Dragon Slayer.

**==Natsu==**

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled after her as he struggled to push himself out of her bedroom window, when he did manage to push himself out he ended up using too much strength and falling into the river. At this point Happy was forced to wake up since he was now floating in ice cold water, he managed to get out of it using his wings before looking down to see a drenched Natsu with a frown plastered on his face.

"What's wrong Natsu?" Happy glided down to rest on the cement walk in front of his "Father" so to speak tilting his head slightly in confusion. Natsu sighed before climbing out of the river and quickly set himself on fire just enough to dry out his cloths before turning to his little Exceed buddy.

"Lucy smells different, and it bothers me slightly. She's never smelled that-"_good to me before…_ He finished off his sentence in his mind. He looked down at his friend before shaking off that thought. "Never mind Happy." He looked in the direction Lucy ran and realized she was heading for the guild which made finding her easy enough. "Come on pal, Lucy went to the guild maybe she wants to take a job." A big goofy grin replaced his previous frown which caused Happy to nod and move to float in the air beside Natsu as they approached Fairy Tail.

**== Lucy ==**

Lucy rushed through the guild doors before looking around for Levy, hoping that she'd be able to avoid talking to Natsu if she was with her best friend. Once she zeroed in on the girl she practically tackled her, crying slightly about being chased by a pink haired idiot and his lazy cat. Levy just sat there and patted her head slightly while looking over at her boyfriend, Gajeel Redfox, having an idea of what was going on.

Gajeel stood up from his seat planning to intercept Natsu before he could enter the guild, he was sure that the flame idiot didn't even know what was happening to his body, and that unsettled him some. It would be a problem if his hunch was correct, but it did puzzle him that Natsu didn't know what was happening on his own.

As Gajeel exited the guild doors Levy turned back to Lucy, all the while gently pulling her blonde friend from clinging to her chest to look her in the eyes. "Lucy tell me what's going on with you and Natsu, it's kind of strange that you're terrified of him right now." Levy tried to reason with her friend as she wiped away her unexpected tears.

**==Natsu==**

"Oi Salamander, time you and me have a little talk. Dragon Slayer to Dragon Slayer, meaning Happy can go hang around Shrimp and Bunny Girl for this little talk." Gajeel growled as he grabbed Natsu by the back of his collar and dragged him down the streets of Magnolia. Natsu complained saying he needed to see Lucy, before he realized what he was saying a growl abruptly escaped Natsu's mouth as he took a firm grip on Gajeel's wrist that was holding the back of his collar and dug his nails into said guys' skin, or tried to anyways.

Gajeel shook his head and chuckled as Natsu tried to hurt him, but as soon as he'd grabbed him he'd covered his arm in metal scales. "Struggle all you want Salamander we're having this talk whether you want to or not, so you might as well just give up and listen to what I have to say." Natsu stopped his struggle as his eyes widened at his own actions, he'd blacked out for a few seconds just now.

Gajeel managed to drag Natsu to the outskirts of Magnolia before he finally let go of Natsu's jacket collar. Natsu crossed his arms with a frown as he sat down on the grass facing Gajeel, who looked smug that he didn't struggle the rest of the way here after he realized he'd tried to hurt him in order to get to Lucy.

"Now that you've calmed down some," Gajeel sat on a fallen log facing Natsu with his hands on both his knees, "I need to know when your birthday was." Natsu furrowed his brow in confusion at Gajeel's question about his birthday. "I'm not sure." Natsu replied with another confused look directed at the Iron Dragon Slayer.

Gajeel smacked his hand over his face at Natsu's answer, how could this idiot not know when his birthday was. Gajeel took in a deep breath glaring down at the younger Dragon Slayer before he finally let it out in a huff. "Fine let me ask you something easier." Gajeel stared him directly in the eye, "When did Bunny Girl's scent change?"

Natsu blinked a few times before he hunched over laughing at Gajeel's question, Lucy's scent hadn't changed so what was he talking about… He immediately stopped all laughter to look up at Gajeel who quirked an eyebrow at him. "It happened this morning." He replied before biting his lower lip in worry about what was happening to him or to Lucy.

Gajeel stood to his feet abruptly and growled, "You damned idiot! Yesterday was your damn birthday!" Natsu fell on his back at Gajeel's outburst about his birthday, wait did he say yesterday…but what did his birthday have to do with anything.

Natsu jumped to his feet and got in Gajeel's face, "What does my birthday have to do with Lucy's scent changing? That doesn't make any sense!" At the end of his angry outburst he was haggardly breathing making it a bit hard for him to take in air without his chest hurting slightly.

Gajeel growled at Natsu for his closeness and stepped back from the agitated Fire Dragon Slayer, he took a deep breath to calm his rage like Levy told him to when things heated up. Once he calmed down he looked Natsu in the eyes, his face serious. "You're birthday matters because it means your inner dragon is coming of age for a mate, and with your ignorance you could really hurt Lucy… maybe even kill her without meaning to."

Natsu stiffened his eyes open wide and his face showing a horrified expression at the mere idea of killing Lucy, that same thought made pain burn into his heart. Even though he was a Dragon Slayer he wasn't immune to this kind of burning pain, the kind that made his entire being shake in fear for a murder he could commit against someone he loved.

**==Lucy==**

"I don't know what's wrong with him but I'm scared Levy, something about him doesn't feel right. Wait, that's not the right word… he feels different for some reason." Lucy's voice shook as she continued to talk to Levy about what happened that very morning. "And then he told me I smelled different, you're dating Gajeel right, is that normal for a Dragon Slayer to say?" She looked to Levy for answers to things she really wanted, no, needed to know about Natsu's behavior.

Levy understood Lucy's predicament because about two years ago it was Gajeel going through the same thing, but with her as the target. "Uh Lucy I need to talk to you about something but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, can you do that for me?" Levy needed her answer fast so they could move quickly, she knew what was coming and it wouldn't be good for Lucy in the beginning.

Lucy was a bit confused but she nodded her head yes for she didn't trust her voice at the moment. She sat and waited for Levy to speak but what happened instead made her a bit curious about the words that Levy thought she needed to hear. Lucy was dragged out of the guild and pulled toward her own home, maybe Levy didn't want others to hear so she was taking her to a place that others that knew them wouldn't overhear their conversation.

Once Levy and Lucy were safely locked within Lucy's own house Levy began her tale. "Lucy you have a right to be scared of Natsu right now, at the moment he has the ability to seriously harm you without intending to. All male Dragon Slayers go through what's known as Mating Heat for about one month after their twenty-first birthday, it begins the day after and almost always their mate is human as far as I can understand."

Levy pulled a small book out of her pack that Lucy didn't realize she had with her until now. Lucy looked at it and noticed it was rather old and the pages were yellow with age, while some pages were almost on the verge of falling out of the binding to the book. The cover showed an infinity symbol and on either side of it were a Dragon and what looked like a human from what Lucy could see.

"This is a book I managed to find in the oldest section of the guild library. Even the master didn't know it existed until now. This book explains the connection between a male Dragon Slayer and their human mate, the reason I have it is because Gajeel has already experienced what Natsu is starting to go through. I'm… well I'm… Gajeel's mate." Levy blushed when Lucy started at her.

"Anyway I've already started to rewrite everything within this book that way this knowledge won't disappear forever once this book in unable to be read anymore. Here this one is a completed copy of the one's I've written. I had Reedus copy the cover to the new version. I also translated everything since the original is written in a different language than what we speak now." Levy handed Lucy a brand new book with gold binding, and a rather colorful cover featuring the same pictures of the original.

Lucy's hands shook slightly as she took the book from Levy. "So what you're saying is that you think I'm Natsu's mate, but that can't be… he has Lisanna for that why is it me?" Truthfully Lucy was happy about her being the one for him but she'd always thought he would end up with Lisanna in the end so she never revealed her feeling toward the idiot himself.

"No thinking Lucy, you are Natsu's mate. Your scent changed to him and that's the first sign of Mating Heat, at the moment Gajeel is trying to explain what I'm telling you to Natsu. The first few stages are tough for us humans, so you must be careful to follow what's in the book as not to anger him unintentionally. When the heat is over there will be a tattoo like mark along your neck, this tells all other male Dragon Slayers that you are the mate of a Dragon Slayer. Here see this…" Levy turned slightly and on her neck was a tattoo like mark of a dragon blackish-gray in color.

Lucy always thought she'd gotten it for Gajeel, she just never knew it was from Gajeel. Lucy's mind was in overload from all the information that Levy was piling into her mind. "Are you saying there's a chance that he could hurt me without meaning to, and that this is only the beginning of the Mating Heat." She looked down at the book a bit scared of what she might find within the bound book. Lucy gulped before looking back up at Levy; if her friend was okay then she should be too. "Thank you Levy, I'll be sure to read it."

**==Natsu==**

"Contrary to what others believe Dragon Slayers aren't at full power by themselves, we require something more to be stable and more powerful. Natsu, Levy and I have found out that Dragon Slayers are recklessly destructive because we have nothing to balance out our true nature as Dragon Slayers or should I say Dragons. A mate to us is the other half of our souls that allows us a calm that wouldn't exist without them, after a mate is fully claimed she is the reason why we become so powerful our need to protect her requires our powers to grow to full capacity." Gajeel explained with words Natsu didn't know the guy knew, he must have acted like a thug just for the fun of it.

Natsu finally found the will to speak after Gajeel's words. "But why would I hurt Lucy unintentionally, how could I if she's supposed to be my mate? Why wouldn't have Igneel told me about this?!" Natsu clenched his fists as he stared at the ground, _why Igneel this is something you should have told me before you left me, I don't want to hurt her…_ Natsu felt in his heart that Lucy was his mate no doubt about that, the only thing he couldn't wrap his head around was the possibility of hurting her part.

Gajeel took pity on the younger Dragon Slayer for he was about to drop something he knew the guy wouldn't like in his lap. "For the first week of Mating Heat, which lasts about a month total, your inner dragon will take over and the man will only be able to watch what happens and sometimes that isn't pretty. I'm hoping that Levy is explaining this to Lucy right now so she knows what not to do to anger your dragon. For now you need to get back to her or else you'll go on a rampage and destroy the city."

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AN: So I made the first chapter a bit longer than before so people should be happy with it, anyway I'm working on the second one right now. Please review I enjoy hearing from people who like my stories, it makes me really happy. Until next time… xoxo.


	2. Calming the Dragon Part I

Hey guy's archergirl14 here, I hope that my one-shot distracted at least a few of you while you waited. I've also had another story cooking on the back burner as of late. It was brought to the forefront of my mind by another user who liked my one-shot. I'm hoping to make it a FT canon and gender bender cross over, I actually just started some of it but I'm not too sure about my idea. Anyway on with the story…

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_Fragmented Soul - Chapter II_

_**==Lucy==**_

Levy gently smiled at her friend before a tingling sensation gently caressed her neck; _guess my time with Lu is up looks like the boys are on their way here._ "Lucy I have to get going, but there is one thing I forgot to tell you. During the first stage no man can be near you or touch you so I suggest you stay home during that time, I'll be sure to bring food over since he'll know I mean no harm because I'm already mated to Gajeel." Levy said softly to her already stunned friend.

Lucy's stunned face turned dark as she growled furiously, "What about my rent! Oh when I get my hands on that pervert I swear I'm going to strangle him." She balled her right fist and shook it in the air in anger, Levy just giggled at her temper. Lucy looked at her with a 'you did not just laugh at me' look on her face, which caused her to bust out laughing. "Levy…" She whined at her puffing out her bottom lip and pouting at the bluenette.

"I'm sorry Lu but you might need to rethink about that once you've read the first chapter. Anyway I need to go before Gajeel throws me over his shoulder and drags me out himself." Levy put away her things before heading towards the door passing her gloomy looking friend on the way. "Don't worry Lu you'll be fine as long as you follow what the book says." She smiled sadly at her before looking down at her own stomach. _Hopefully yours won't die._ After that thought she exited the building leaving Lucy to herself until Natsu rejoined her.

Lucy sighed as she looked down at the small book in her hand, thinking she might as well start reading it until Natsu showed up. She lifted the cover and started reading the introduction:

_**==Book Reading==**_

_I'm Angel Lorre and I'm also the mate of a Water Dragon Slayer. I've decided to write this book so that other Mates will be prepared for what is to come as the Mate of a Dragon Slayer, there are also chances that some things that happen to you might not be in this book since I'm writing it based on what's happened to me. Now to begin, Dragon Slayers go through what's called __Mating Heat__ after their twenty-first birthday that lasts about a month's time, meaning about twenty-eight to thirty days, the start of the heat begins the day after said Dragon Slayers birthday. There are about four stages to Mating Heat, but the first is the most dangerous for humans. Before the first stage the human mate's scent will change signaling to the Dragon Slayer that he's found his mate or better yet his other half._

_**==Pause Reading==**_

Lucy just stared at the page she'd just read, _a whole month of doing WHAT with Natsu._ She thought to herself before flipping ahead to the actual first chapter of the book, the title of said chapter caused more questions to pop into her head.

_**==Continued Reading==**_

_Chapter One: Calming the Dragon_

_What you might not know is that Dragon Slayers have two different beings within them, one being dominate of the two. Their everyday persona remains dominate, the other is what they call their inner dragon. It mostly acts on instinct rather than thinking things through like they normally would. The reason why the first step is so dangerous toward us is because during the first week of Mating Heat the inner dragon is in control of the Slayers body starting from the first night after his birthday. He is easily offended and will not like it if you are not submissive, problem number one which could cause him to hurt you. If for some reason you are not submissive unintentionally present him with the back of your neck, moving the hair aside if it is too long. This is one way of asking forgiveness before harm is done to your body. I will list a few key points if you wish not to read my in depth definitions of everything, or in case you have no time to read further._

_- Make sure to be submissive, this includes:  
__*Keeping your head lower than his if he is the same height or shorter than you, be it siting down or standing up.  
__*Giving him your full attention no matter what it may concern.  
__*Be sure to obey if he gives you any type of command, which often is not said in full sentences.__  
_

_- Always remain in touching distance with your Dragon Slayer:  
__*Try not to mind where he's touching.  
__*Often he will hold either your inner/outer thigh or hip.  
__*Make sure to sleep next to him, usually cuddling.  
__*Might as well get used to seeing him naked for he will follow you into the bath whether you want him to or not._

_- Avoid other males other than your Dragon Slayer during the first week of Mating Heat:  
__*Any male scent other than his own on you will anger him and it won't matter if the male is friend or foe the Dragon Slayer will see him as a threat and might attempt to kill him. Dragons are possessive creatures when it comes to their mates.  
__*Female friends are the only ones that can approach you without angering your Dragon Slayer.  
__*I suggest staying indoors for the first week, so you should arrange a friend to get food for you and your Dragon Slayer._

_- Ways to ask for forgiveness if he becomes aggressive:  
__*Bare the back of your neck to him moving hair aside.  
__*Place the palm of your hand against his chest where his heart resides and whimper softly.  
__*Sit in his lap resting the top of your head under his chin, while placing his hands on either side of your hips._

_**==Abruptly Ended Reading==**_

Lucy looked up surprised that her door was being opened slowly, and even more shocked when Natsu came walking in through it. _He never uses the door? Is something wrong with him today…Oh right he just found out what's going on with us, uh I mean him._ Lucy sighed as she closed the book Levy gave her looking up at Natsu, who for some reason wasn't looking her in the eyes. From what she could tell he was staring at the floor, his hands fidgeting in front of him. "Natsu…?" Lucy's voice was soft as she slowly walked toward him setting her book down on her bed after she'd stood up.

Natsu was clueless on what to say to her, his mind was fighting against something he didn't understand. _**Mine.**__ Just stay out of my head already. __**My Mate. **__Not yet, I'm not ready to give you total control over my body yet. __**Need her now.**_ One second he was standing near the door and the next he had Lucy in his arms his head buried into the side of her neck, earning him a small squeak from the blonde. He sniffed taking in her changed scent, before today she'd smelled like sweet honey but now she smelled like warm vanilla and cinnamon. He had a sudden urge to bite her where her neck and shoulder met; something in him knew he needed to do it to claim her…it just wasn't the right time yet.

"Hey Natsu you're creeping me out with the sniffing." Lucy mumbled uneasily as she felt his lips graze her shoulder, causing a pleasurable shiver to make its way down her spine. Lucy pulled away from him slightly trying to get a good look at his face, when she did she was a little frightened. Natsu's eyes had changed from forest green to a warm fiery amber color, his face taking on the form it had when he used Dragon Force. He shook his head taking a step back from her; he even let his arms fall limp at his sides. The next time he looked at her his face had returned to normal, but he looked to be in so much pain because of it.

Natsu fought back wholeheartedly against his inner dragon for control, when he returned to normal the fight for control caused him to be in quite a lot of pain. He looked down at Lucy who appeared genuinely concerned about his wellbeing; he just smiled down at her. "Had to fight him back, very painful but this is nothing compared to other fights we've been in. As night draws closer Gajeel said it'll get harder and harder to fight against him. Don't anger him Lucy," Natsu used a hand to caress her cheek. "I don't want to hurt you, but he might if pushed." He let his hand slide down and off her face. He was starting to feel sick due to fighting off his Dragon.

"Natsu you don't look so good, your face is turning green. Almost as if you're having motion sickness…is fighting him off making you sick?" Lucy grabbed his hand pulling him toward her bed before she sat down at the head of the bed patting her lap, hoping he understood that she wanted him to lie down and place his head in her lap. He understood her and did just that, he closed his eyes when he felt her fingers run softly through his hair it had a sort of calming effect on him.

Natsu could feel the vibrations against his body as she hummed a soothing lullaby he'd never heard before; the sound and pitch were like balm against his suddenly shrinking pain. _**Mate has pretty voice, must touch skin. **__Touch skin? Well I can do that without having you take over for now._ Natsu lifted one of his hands and touched the inside of her thigh residing under his head while lying in her lap. He felt her tense up and pause her humming for just a few seconds before she continued with what she was doing.

_Ignore his hand like the book said, I don't want his inner Dragon to surface yet so let his hand be._ Lucy tried telling herself as she tried to sooth Natsu's pain as best she could. His hot breath on her legs made her mind go a little fuzzy, almost to the point where she couldn't remember what she was doing. Every few seconds she'd pinch herself with her free hand just to get her mind back on track and NOT have her eyes trail down his body in a heated way. Lucy turned her head a bit to get a look at the clock. It was a little before twelve when they'd woken up and after all this stuff happened to them it was now around four-thirty. _I wonder how long I have before Natsu has to give in to his Dragon, maybe I can take a bath before that happens. I sure don't want to be up close and personal with a naked Natsu, although it probably wouldn't be that bad…ah! Bad Lucy! I shouldn't think about that now._ She sighed as she eyed the man in her lap; this was going to be a long month.

Natsu tried to stay awake but Lucy's gentle touch and soft voice were making it pretty damn hard to do so. He hoped that if he fell asleep his Dragon wouldn't take over right away; he knew she needed enough space before she could deal with his Dragon who probably wouldn't let her out of his sight. "Luce if you keep this up I'll fall asleep and he might just take over by force, I'll be fine if I just lay here you probably have some things to take care of." He tried to sit up without getting sick and he was pretty proud of himself when he accomplished his goal. "I'll just sit here for a while, okay?" He asked her with a weak smile showing how vulnerable he was in his current state.

Lucy was surprised when he moved himself out of her lap and into a sitting position, telling her that she was free to do as she pleased for the moment. "Thank you Natsu, I-I'll try and take care of the stuff I need to for now." She stood to her feet before making her way to her closet taking out her favorite night gown since she knew that probably by the end of the month he wouldn't be a stranger to her in her birthday suit. She sighed taking out a few other things, and slipping off her shoes and socks. She entered the bathroom setting her things down then leaving to head for the kitchen. She might as well start making dinner then after she'd take her bath.

Natsu couldn't help that his eyes followed her wherever she went, when she emerged from her closet his eyes widened when he got a good look at what she would be wearing to bed. _Well I haven't seen that one before…maybe she only wears it when I'm off on missions and she knows I won't drop in on her._ He chuckled to himself when she dropped all of her night wear into the bathroom, when she came back out she headed straight for the kitchen. His stomach growled at that thought, he forgot he hadn't eaten anything at all today what with chasing her and his long winded talk with Gajeel. Now Natsu just hoped that he'd still be in control of his body until she at least had her bath, because if he wasn't he wasn't too sure what his Dragon would do to her. _**Mine to do as I please…**_

Lucy could hear his growling stomach from the kitchen as she started getting ready to make a stew, before that she pulled out some left over rice balls she'd made for him whenever he would just show up in her house out of the blue…which was sad considering how often he'd done it up till now. She took it to her room and handed it to him. "It spicy just like you like it, this should hold you over until dinner is ready." She noticed his eyes flash for a quick second before he took what she offered him, his tongue licking his dry lips making her all hot and bothered at the same time.

"Thanks Luce." Natsu had almost lost control there for a moment when she'd leaned over in front of him, unknown to her that he got a really good look down her shirt. From that tiny slip of control he knew his Dragon wanted to jump her just as much as he did. Only he knew that wouldn't really be happening till the third week, all thanks to Gajeel dropping that on him as well. He hit the metal-head square in the stomach because the guy knew it would make him extra nervous to be around Lucy with that type of info floating around constantly in his head. He just decided to stuff his face as a distraction in the meantime.

Lucy shook her head as she watched him eat, _such awful eating habits._ She turned heading back into the kitchen to cook dinner, she decided to use stew meat, carrots, potatoes, garlic, onions, celery, and a bunch of spices and seasonings. It took her half an hour to prep everything and then about an hour and a half of cooking for it to be finished. She took out two bowls and pour stew into them, she added a few more things to his before taking it into her room and setting it down on a small table she'd set up for him. "Here's yours Natsu, I'll take mine into the bathroom with me so I can soak in the tub and eat at the same time. Just try to hold out till then okay?" Lucy could tell holding his Dragon back was causing him pain but he kept telling her he was strong enough to deal with it so she just let him be. Lucy went back to the kitchen and took her dish before heading into the bathroom as she'd told Natsu she'd do.

Natsu was exhausted from the strain of holding back his Dragon, but he knew he'd do just about anything for Lucy right now. She would be dealing with a Dragon for a little under a week, and that didn't sit well with him. He just wanted her to be safe, but now her safety was in jeopardy and it was entirely his fault, or rather his inner Dragon's fault. She sighed as he started eating the food Lucy made for him. He had to admit she knew what he liked that was for sure. _I wouldn't' mind being with her 24/7, but she does like her space from time to time. Took me a while before I could dodge her kick, they're not as strong as Erza's but she makes up for it by knowing where to hit._ He gulped remembering when she got him in the family jewels. He wouldn't forget it because Gray laughed his ass off when he'd asked him for thick ice shaped underpants for the pain.

Lucy finished her dinner and washed her body really good because she probably wouldn't enter this bathroom unless she really needed to; she was putting on her cloths when she heard something shatter in her bedroom. "Natsu!" She threw her gown on and rushed out of her bathroom to see his bowl shattered and his table knocked over, she slowly approached him when she noticed he was face down on the floor. As she got closer she could tell he was still conscious and he was panting and groaning in pain. She kneeled down avoiding the broken shards of his bowl. She pulled him into her lap and turned him over so she could look him in the face. "Natsu?"

Natsu looked up at her giving off a pained smile. "I can't hold him back anymore Luce, I'm sorry." His body went limp in her arms as he lost consciousness, his eyes open slightly so she could see the forest green fade away and the warm fiery amber take its place along with the markings on his face. She noticed a few other changes to his body, his fangs were longer and his nails were now practically claws. _No wonder Natsu said not to anger him, he can do a lot of damage to me with his nails alone._

Natsu's eyes shot fully open when the Dragon fully took over, he was on his feet in seconds looking over his body before a heated gaze was turned on Lucy. **"My mate need sleep."** _Great the first thing you do is boss her around. She's going to murder me when I'm the one in control again. _He ignored his human half before he reached down and picked her up avoiding the bowl fragments on the ground before setting her down on her bed, she was a bit shaken by his deep voice and the sudden action of being lifted into his arms. He shed his one sleeved jacket tossing it aside before discarding his pants so now all he had on were his flaming red boxers which made his mate blush. He climbed in before pulling her flush against his chest, his face buried in her neck.

Lucy was still in shock by the time she was pressed against his chest, she gulped the book was right she wouldn't want to anger him if she could help it. She was just glad Natsu wasn't hurt and that she'd asked Virgo to put dinner away before she'd gotten out of the tub. Lucy knew she wasn't tired but from all the pain of holding his Dragon back Natsu's body must have been the one that needed rest even though 'Natsu' wasn't really the one in control of it anymore. She sighed knowing she'd have to deal with this side of Natsu when she got up in the morning, or sooner depending on if he'd let her sleep in tomorrow. Lucy just closed her eyes and tried to force herself to go to sleep alongside him. _I wonder what he'll be like in the morning when he's not tired…  
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_**AN:**_ And there is the second chapter for you guys, sorry it took so long I was writing then deleting over and over again cause I didn't like how it was going. I'm a little happier with how this one turned out rather than before. I hope to get more than 5 reviews this time so it would be a little over 10 for total reviews given to this story. Any who stay tuned in for the next chapter…xoxo.


	3. Calming the Dragon Part II

Hey guy's archergirl14 here, I'm so happy with how many reviews I got this time. I was so shocked when it went over ten and then over twenty, I'm glad that people like the way I write and who are happy with how the story is going so far. I enjoy having Natsu and his Dragon argue even though the Dragon almost never speaks in full sentences. XD Anyway on with the story…

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_Fragmented Soul - Chapter III_

_**==Week 1 Day 2==**_

Lucy's mind was slowly waking up to the new morning, though oddly she felt heavy pressure on her chest and against her back. She opened her eyes slowly still a bit groggy from sleep before looking down at her chest where the pressure was coming from. She nearly screamed in anger when she found a masculine hand gripping her right breast, before she remembered exactly just _**whose**_ hand it was. She let out a defeated sigh knowing now that the pressure on her back must be from Natsu's chest, his naked chest, although there was something poking her butt… Lucy nearly squealed in embarrassment when she realized exactly what was pressed so intimately to her behind, the blush on her cheeks rivaled that of Erza's hair. She froze instantly when movement occurred behind her and the pressure on her breast increased as '_Natsu_' flexed his clawed fingers, the hot breath on her neck that came next nearly had her jumping out of her skin.

"**Mate awake."** His Dragon's words were more of a statement than a question. Natsu could feel everything that went on with his body even if he wasn't in the so called '_Drivers Seat._' He nearly had heart failure when he realized his body was gripping Lucy's chest, and not in an accident type fashion. _What the hell are you doing! Let go of Lucy's chest right now! __**My mate, do what I want.**_ Natsu growled inside his own head, which they were both sharing at the moment. _You stubborn pain in the ass, Lucy doesn't like that kind of thing. I know I've done…it…before…_ Okay so he couldn't talk his way out of that one, but he could at least try and stop it from happening since it wasn't '_really_' him. Natsu used all of his will power to force his Dragon to let go of her, and surprisingly it worked although it made his Dragon furious. His body growled in a deep and loud tone of voice, **"Human side should have no power over body, my turn with Mate."** _Okay maybe that action was a mistake, but still if I wouldn't do that purposely without her permission then you shouldn't either. __**Dragon not care, Dragon do what Dragon wants.**_

Lucy nearly ran away when he growled, her fear had almost gotten the best of her until she heard his next words. _Natsu…? So you forced him to let go of me, but how… I don't understand how you did that. The book didn't say anything about that being possible… Then again it was based off another's Mating Heat and it did say that some things probably wouldn't be the same for other human mates._ She sat up slowly trying not to agitate the so called man behind her, her hair was a mess and it didn't help that her night gown straps were hanging off her shoulders. Lucy tried to ignore the eyes that suddenly decided to follow her movements as she stretched like she normally did when she woke up. As soon as she finished she felt strong arms encircle her waist and pull her back into a hot chest, before a mouth started kissing along her exposed shoulder making her jump slightly. _I can't believe I wasn't expecting this…anything involving Natsu probably wants me right now._ Lucy sighed softly before looking back into the eyes of Natsu's Dragon, before she softly said, "I'm hungry, aren't you?"

Natsu didn't like this one bit, his Dragon was TOO touchy feely with his Lucy. He didn't know why he was getting jealous over something that was essentially still a part of him. Then again _he_ wanted to be the one who touched her this way first. Right now he wanted to punch something… like maybe Gray… but no he can't do that right now because _something_ else was controlling his body. _**No talk about other male, I kill him if he come close to Mate.**_ _Shut it; don't forget I can still force my control over this body._ Natsu smirked inwardly when he heard a growl inside the mind they shared, from that point on his Dragon ignored him as he responded to their Mate. **"Little hungry, but not want let go Mate."** He tightened his grip along Lucy's waist before burying his face in her neck taking in her changed scent, he heard her squeak slightly when his hardness pressed against her lower back. _Oh come on, really! Don't press that against her, she's still new to all this. You can't force anything on her she's fragile emotionally compared to other girls, plus she really needs to eat or she won't have enough energy to handle you the entire day.__** Fine Dragon let go for Mate.**_ **"Human side make point, you need eat for energy."** The Dragon loosened his hold on Lucy allowing her to move as she pleased.

Lucy was relieved that Natsu was trying to make her as comfortable as possible with his Dragon, although knowing he was still conscious of everything going on out here in there was a tad strange. But she'd take what she could get for the moment. Lucy moved to the end of the bed not really caring that her underwear was visible, what would be the point of hiding it if he'd see her without them later on. As she got off her bed she moved to her house shoes so she could pick up the pieces of his broken bowl from last night, but as soon as she moved around to see the damage it was already cleaned up… _Must have been Virgo, I'll have to thank her later._ Lucy smiled as she made her way to the kitchen fridge pulling out bacon and eggs and placing then on the counter near the stove, before leaning down to pick out a frying pan. When she made her choice she placed it on the stove and turned on the heat, as she was opening the bacon arms closed around her waist again. _Oh yeah always remain in touching distance, but do his arms just have to be around my waist it's hard to cook like this._ Almost as if he'd heard her thoughts he moved back and just used his hands to grip her hips, something the book said might happen more often than others.

Natsu didn't know how he'd last for about a week if things like this kept happening, Gajeel didn't bother to tell him that the Dragon needed to touch her and sometimes in inappropriate places. _Never mind her dealing with you, just how am I supposed to deal since we don't agree on a lot of things…_ _**Dragon follow instinct, Dragon also possessive like human side.**_ Well that was new. He didn't realize he was possessive with Lucy, then again over this past year he was more aggressive toward guys that got a little too close to her. Maybe it was preparing him for this, so his body must have been running on instinct when he became possessive. _So I'm possessive too huh, that's funny but it's true since I know not all the time I was possessive it wasn't instinct more like I never wanted to let Lucy go…_ _**Yes but you not bad, mean you love.**_ If he were in control of his body he would have smiled, _maybe we agree on more things than I thought…_ His Dragon grinned using his mouth before leaning over to whisper in Lucy's ear, **"Human side love you Mate, while Dragon side protect you."** Natsu's mouth would have dropped at the words leaving his mouth.

Lucy nearly dropped her spatula at the deep whispered words entering her ear, her face held a surprised expression. She shook her head slightly before returning to her cooking, she'd tell Natsu what she thought about that when he was the one in control. The Dragon on the other hand made her smile slightly knowing Natsu was probably flustered in there because of those words. "I'll respond when your human side is back in control okay?" She finished the bacon setting it off to the side before starting on the eggs, her hands moving faster now that she was in a much happier mood plus she wasn't afraid of the Dragon as much as she was before.

_**==Meanwhile at the Fairy Tail Guild==**_

Gajeel and Levy were looking anywhere else but at an angry Erza, who now knew something was up when Gajeel prevented Gray from going to see if Lucy would want to go on a job with the team since her rent was due soon. Erza slammed her armored hand on the table startling the two mages, "now tell me what's going on with Lucy that you won't let Gray go over and see if she wants to go on a job with us. And if I don't like your answer," Erza requipped a sword and pointed it in their faces drawing the eyes of almost everyone in the guild. "I'll deal out your punishment." She watched as Levy looked up at Gajeel asking permission to tell them all what was going on, he grunted before letting out a breath and then nodding his head yes.

Levy reached into her bag and pulled out another copy of the book she'd given to Lucy, and gently placed it on the table. "Natsu is going through what's called Mating Heat, a process of claiming what Dragons call their mate. As of right now he's in the first stage at least for five more days after today. Before you ask, Lucy is his mate…" Erza to say the least was shocked. She eyed the book before picking it up and flipped through it. A part of it caught her eyes so she read a bit of it before she blushed the same color as her hair; she shut it quickly before placing it back down. "The reason Gajeel stopped Gray from going to Lucy's is that Natsu would have tried to kill him." There were a few more gasps in the room other than the people in front of her before Levy realized practically the whole guild was listening in on their conversation, and from the looks of it Mira had passed out on the floor with a smile on her face. _Just great Lu is going to kill me when she finds out I had to tell Erza what was going on, oh and that the whole guild heard it._ Randomly she heard, "Juvia no longer has love rival!"

Levy sighed, "Now as I was saying Dragon Slayer's have what they call inner Dragons, right now the Dragon in Natsu is in control of his body. It would have killed Gray even if Natsu himself wouldn't. It reacts on instinct and is really aggressive toward other males it sees as a threat, at least for the next five days only females can approach Lu without provoking him before Natsu will return to being in control of his body. Does that explain everything so far?" She looked up at Erza expectantly as the red head just nodded at her. Wendy gave Levy a weird look as she eyed the book before Levy realized she thought it applied to her too. "Relax Wendy this book only applies to _male_ Dragon Slayers." She smiled at the young sixteen year old who was looking over at Romeo, a blush painting her cheeks lightly. _Too cute…_

Erza coughed slightly before looking down at Levy, her face looking a bit more relieved at her explaining things. "Fine, but just to be sure she's okay you'll come with me to see her tomorrow Levy." The look on Erza's face told Levy she could not refuse to go. "Can I come too?" Wendy's small voice spoke out to them. "Can Juvia come as well?" Juvia jumped slightly bouncing over to the small group. "I don't see why not." Erza said without referring to Levy first, knowing the small woman couldn't ignore her words.

_**==Back with Natsu & Lucy==**_

It was pretty quiet for most of the day considering she had Natsu over at her house, though his Dragon was content with just having her in his arms. She was able to read a little more of chapter one in the book Levy had given her, while comfortably resting in the arms of her Mate who for some reason held her close even when he was fast asleep. She giggled to herself every time his hold on her tightened and then loosened, almost as if he was deciding to keep her captive or let her go where she wanted. _Maybe this won't be so bad. I love Natsu so why not give his Dragon a chance too. After all, they are one in the same._ Lucy yawned slightly. Sometimes reading made her a bit sleepy. She might just follow Natsu's example and take a nap for a little while.

As she settled in a pair of amber eyes opened to watch Lucy close her chocolate brown ones. His Dragon watched at their Mate settled against his chest, her breath slowed signaling that she'd fallen asleep. _**Mate really pretty.**_ Natsu couldn't help but to agree with that thought, though he hadn't realized how hard he'd fallen for her till now. He hadn't wanted to admit it but when Lucy had originally walked into his life he gradually started to recover from Lisanna's death, but when she returned he just knew that what he felt towards Lucy was a different type of love than the one he had for Lisanna. For Lisanna she was more like a little sister more than anything else, and as for Lucy he wanted her to be his unknowingly. Now he could put words to the feelings he had for the blonde celestial mage, he _truly, madly, deeply_ loved her. _**Human side dense…**_ _What, I wasn't a lover I was a fighter before all this happened. Now I've changed my mind and I can be both, at least I hope I can…__**I can do for you.**__ No way in hell!_ Natsu growled at his Dragon inside their shared mind, his Dragon just chuckled back before getting up with Lucy in his arms. _**Night soon Mate need sleep in bed.**__ Just don't try anything this time okay.__** No promises.**__ I give up!_ His Dragon smiled before setting Lucy down on her bed before getting in after her. He pulled her up against his chest like last night, but this time she was facing him. **"We sleep now."** Natsu ignored him as their body slowly drifted to sleep taking both the Dragon and Natsu with it.

_**==Week 1 Day 3==**_

Lucy woke up bright and early the next day, sitting up while rubbing her eyes. She looked to her side to see that for once a Natsu habit had taken form. He was snoring while sleeping on his back and drooling. _Okay ewe that's gross, that is one thing I will never get used to. Ah! This is my chance to get a shower in before starting my day. I just have to be really quiet._ Lucy smiled as she slid her body down to the edge of her bed; she then got up quickly without jolting the bed in the process. She grabbed her cloths before entering her bathroom. She wasn't going to bother locking the door because she knew that if Natsu woke up he'd break the door to the bathroom to get to her, or at least his Dragon would. She turned on the water letting it get warm while stripping off her night gown, which she'd worn two nights and one day in a row. She checked the water temperature before turning on the shower head and stepping into the warm water.

About five minutes after the water had been turned on; his Dragon sat up suddenly looking around the room for their mate. He growled before his ears tuned into the sound of water running and his head snapped in the direction of the bathroom. _Don't you dare…_ Natsu couldn't believe it when his Dragon ignored him and started toward the bathroom, his thoughts only focused on touching Lucy. Not intimately, just touching her skin almost as if it was a built in need that his body had to follow. The Dragon stripped his body of the only thing covering it. _At least cover yourself with a towel, I don't want to scare her with it too soon. __**Fine…**_ Natsu was thankful that it would listen to him this time, although this wouldn't be his first time seeing Lucy naked so he knew his lower body would be having problems for the most part of the day.

Lucy screamed when a hand suddenly came down on her shoulder, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she turned to smack the intruder before freezing as soon as she got a look at his face. "Don't EVER do that again, are you trying to send me to an early grave." Lucy huffed as she slumped against the shower wall glaring at her partner and Mate. _Really he couldn't have said 'Hey Lucy I'm coming in after you' is that so hard?!_ Lucy stiffened when she was pulled against Natsu's well-muscled body, the front of his body she might add. She was just thankful that he had a towel on, _must have been Natsu's doing._ Although a certain hard body part was still pressed against her right now, _wow he's so consistent in the morning._ She thought sarcastically, but she had to admit she liked everything else pressed against her. She never realized he had so many muscles, must have developed some more during the last few years after the magic competition when he started wearing his one-armed jacket get-up. She swore she missed his vest a little more right now.

Natsu couldn't help that he was enjoying what his Dragon was doing right now, he could feel her curves pressed so close that he was a little upset that he didn't really have a lot of control over his body right now. _**Mate hips good for children.**_ Natsu was utterly flabbergasted right now at what his Dragon had told him, he swore his cheeks would have matched his hair. _Not for a while right…__** Sooner than think. **_Natsu swore inwardly at his answer, _right __Mating__ Heat._ His Dragon moved Lucy under the water to wash the soap suds out of her hair, running his clawed fingers through her hair gently. When it was all washed out Lucy took it upon herself to wash his own hair, which he had to admit did kind of stink. She sat on the bottom of the tub and asked his Dragon to sit in front of her; he did know that even when they were sitting down she was still shorter than he was. After it was all washed down the drain he got out first dripping water all over her bathroom floor, his human side knew she'd be mad about it later.

Lucy shook her head at the eagerness that came about when they got out of the shower. He'd managed to find Natsu's spare cloths before a loud knock rattled her front door startling both of them. He growled for a second before a look of fear crossed his face as his eyes flashed forest green for a moment, just great that meant it was Erza. "Give me a second!" She hurriedly put her cloths on before she started forcing him into his. He decided to not wear a shirt even though she tried forcing him into one. When he growled softly at her she bared the back of her neck to him moving her hair aside, he stopped right away and kissed her there startling her slightly. After shaking her head she ran to open the door, her wet hair slinging water all over the place. As soon as she opened the door she was pulled against the armored chest of the Fairy Tail Guild's strongest woman, noticing over the woman's shoulder an uncomfortable Levy, an excited Juvia, and a shy Wendy. "Hey guys." She said as she pulled away from Erza, and stepped aside to let them in. A low growl was heard inside the house stopping the incoming girls in their tracks. Lucy sighed before she moved over to the growling Dragon and pulled on his hand. He stopped it almost instantly before burying his head into her shoulder and breathing in her scent. Lucy blushed at the girls other than Levy who were giving them weird looks.

"We brought an early lunch for you guys, plus Erza really wanted to make sure you were okay Lu." Levy tried to say clearly but her nervousness at Lucy's reaction was getting in the way. She watched as Natsu eyed her for a minute after he'd moved his head away from Lucy's neck, his nose lifted slightly as he took in her scent a scowl bloomed on his face that could be clearly known as a regular Natsu expression towards Gajeel. That struck her as a bit odd since when Gajeel had gone through his Mating Heat his Dragon had completely taken over not allowing the man to do anything, little lone force his body to show an expression his human side would usually express. Levy then watched Natsu look in Erza's direction, the fear that flashed along with the color of his eyes was unmistakable. This could only mean that Natsu would be so much more powerful than Gajeel when everything was done and over with.

"Why wouldn't I be fine…?" Lucy asked them as she sat down on her couch, or tried to anyways when she was suddenly pulled into the lap of the Fire Dragon Slayer. She sighed as she leaned back against him like she'd done yesterday while he'd slept. Erza really gave her a weird look at that. Then she gave Natsu an even weirder one when he hadn't jumped at the mention of food. Although Lucy thought it was odd that the Dragon was keeping quiet when Erza was in the room, maybe he didn't have a death wish…that was good then. "So…how's Happy doing Wendy?" Lucy tried to move away from the subject she knew would be coming up soon.

Wendy sat down next to them before answering, her eyes still holding curiosity about what was going on with Natsu. "He's been staying with me and Carla right now ever since Levy thought it was a good idea, now that I know why I understand." Wendy smiled up at both Lucy and Natsu's Dragon, who sniffed her slightly then relaxed a bit. Which was a bit of help considering when they first arrived he was on the defensive while it concerned Lucy.

"Juvia came to say she is happy that you are no longer her love rival for Gray." A deep growl followed her words at the mention of Gray's name. **"Human side mention that name before."** He stunned the other girls other than Levy again at the words coming out of his mouth, and just how deep his voice was. _I said I wanted to punch him not anything else okay._ Natsu mumbled internally. _**I said I'd kill but since other woman love, me not kill.**_ _I don't think the stripper has a thing for Lucy anyway, so no big deal right? __**Big deal for Dragon, other male scent on Mate will cause Dragon to kill male.**__ Geez and I thought I was bad. You're in a whole other league in the realm of possessive. _His Dragon snorted before burying his head into Lucy's neck again.

Erza coughed slightly to get their attention before she held up a copy of the book Levy had given Lucy. "We know what's going on, we were just a bit more concerned about your situation for the first week. He hasn't forced you into anything has he, nothing overly perverted perhaps?" Out of nowhere Natsu blurted out, "I would never let him do such a thing!" Levy's head snapped in the direction of Natsu, his eyes were slowly fading from forest green to amber but his angry expression remained. _To force his own voice out like that…Natsu is stronger than his Dragon, not to mention Gajeel._ Erza was so startled by his outburst she'd almost fallen over, she eyed Natsu before looking to a confused Lucy for answers.

Lucy knew it was best that she didn't mention yesterday morning or this morning's bath, she didn't want Natsu killed over it…plus she hadn't really cared since she knew Natsu really loved her. She grabbed Natsu's hands around her waist, just to hold him close while they talked. "No, he's been pretty tame. I think most of it had to do with Natsu though…he's been trying really hard to make me feel comfortable with his Dragon. And I've learned so far he isn't that bad, just a little hard to understand." Lucy smiled as she leaned back further into Natsu's chest feeling quite at ease, unlike what she normally felt.

"I see…then my fears are for nothing. I'm glad you're happy Lucy, you deserve to be. Now how about I make some tea I just bought to go with lunch, we have enough to feed all of us here including your little Dragon." Erza smirked at Lucy when she saw the girl blush. She turned away from them to walk into the kitchen to prepare everything. Levy spoke up for the first time in a while with a gloomy expression on her face, "I'm sorry Lu but I had to tell Erza or Gajeel and I would have had to suffer her punishment. But while I was telling her the whole guild was listening in on our conversation so everyone knows what's going on between you and Natsu." Lucy's face turned dark red from embarrassment now that everyone knew about her and Natsu, although she didn't blame Levy because if it would have been the other way around, she too would have spilled the beans. "Don't worry Levy I'm not mad at you, just a bit embarrassed about it." Levy smiled gently to her before they heard some noise coming from the kitchen.

For the most part of the day all of the girls stayed and chatted with her, something she really needed knowing that she couldn't go to the guild and see them herself. They talked and teased each other about the boys they liked, or the things going on around the town. It was late into the day by the time all four girls left her house in high spirits, knowing their friend hadn't been in danger.

Lucy yawned as she rested against her Dragon Slayer, talking with the girls had been pretty exhausting considering they kept asking questions about her and Natsu. She felt arms tighten around her waist slightly, and a nose nuzzling against her neck. She tried not to giggle but she couldn't help it. **"Good, Mate happy." **_Luce is always happy, she just gets stressed out some times when it concerns her friends, and me for example._ Natsu would have been grinning down at Lucy if he could. _Let's just hope she stay happy, I don't think I could handle seeing her cry again. __**Agreed.**_Maybe it was just him but he was starting to understand his Dragon the more they talked to each other via mentally. Lucy opened her mouth and yawned again, her eyes drooping every few seconds. She didn't realize she was being lifted into the air until she had to grab a hold onto Natsu's neck, her tired eyes looking into the amber eyes of her Mate. "Right, sleep sounds good right now." She mumbled as she was placed safely back onto her bed, followed by a now pants less Dragon who pulled her into the warmth of his arms. **"Sleep…"** She sighed before snuggling into his chest. _I could get used to this…_ Both Natsu and Lucy thought at the same time before drifting off to sleep.

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AN: Finally finished the third chapter, still had problems with writing then deleting stuff but hooray it's done now. So the next chapter will have Week 1 Day 6 & Week 1 Day 7 because I wanted to skip two days, then onto the next stage in Natsu's Mating Heat. Hope you've enjoyed it so far… R&R. xoxo


	4. Calming the Dragon Part III

Hey guy's archergirl14 here, sorry the update took so long… I had to get everything together for my upcoming college class, and then I had to babysit my brat cousins who get into practically everything around them. Also my father who's in cooking school had our family go to his practices for serving at a restaurant, so we had free and good food for a few weeks.

I also had a reviewer ask me to make Levy and Gajeel's Mating Heat story, I'm not sure I will but I'll think about it. When I write stories I tend to type them as I go along which can be quite a hassle but it's worked for me so far. Anyway on with the story…

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_Fragmented Soul - Chapter IV_

_**==Week 1 Day 6==**_

Lucy sighed once again when she noticed Natsu's Dragon found another new place to wake up on again, this time it happened to be his face on her left breast. Not to mention he had his arms wrapped around her waist, not to the point where she couldn't breathe but to the point where she couldn't squirm out of it. _I guess I'll just have to wait until he decides to wake up…again._ This wasn't the first time she was locked in next to the Fire Dragon Slayer, nope. The first time was on the fourth day of the first week. He decided that day he'd wake up with his left arm wrapped tight around her waist and his right arm wrapped around her back to clutch her right breast again… She never thought she'd miss Natsu's bad sleeping habits, ever…

_Really…you're doing this to her again, you do know she doesn't like it right? __**Dragon likes Mate chest, why use pillow for head?**__ Gah! If I could move my body I'd have been bald by now just pulling out my hair from listening to you.__** Not Dragons fault you slow.**__ Come here and say that to my face…ewe wait I take that back, that would be just too damn freaky. __**Human side not too smart either…**__ No, I just don't like your obsession with Luce's boobs, even if they are nice to look at…_ Natsu's body shifted as his hold on Lucy tightened slightly before he released it, his body sitting up to look at her. **"You sleep good Mate?"** A slight smile appeared on his face.

"Ah…um…Yes." Lucy answered him as she herself sat up, and as usual she stretched her body. _Just one more day before I get my Natsu back, I'm okay with the Dragon but I'd rather be with Natsu for the rest of the month because I know he won't try to kill any men, although he might start fighting with Gray again._ Lucy sighed at that thought… Natsu and Gray were annoying as hell once they started name calling and throwing fists nearly breaking everything around them in the process. "I'll get started on breakfast…okay?" Lucy smiled at Natsu's Dragon before trying to get out of the bed, before she was once again in Natsu's arms. She couldn't help but sigh at the Dragon's possessive nature that was described in her book.

"**Mate stay little longer." **Natsu's Dragon nuzzled Lucy's neck with his nose as he held her body close, and this time Natsu was glad that his body and hers weren't pressed together like glue. He hated it when his Dragon pressed the proof of his attraction to his blonde best friend against her. It was just too damn embarrassing for both him and her. _I envy you right now, I want to hold her myself but I can't until sometime tomorrow… __**Dragon know it hard on you but we be together soon and both hold Mate.**_ Natsu didn't understand what his Dragon was trying to tell him, it was just making him more confused than before.

"Alright I'll stay a little longer but then I have to change before I start cooking, don't forget the girls are coming over again today." Ever since Erza found out what was going on with her and Natsu she insisted that she'd come over every day to check on her, which all of the girls decided to follow her example and come over as well. Lucy nearly fell over laughing at the look on Levy's face, because she knew Gajeel wouldn't like it one bit that she would be around Natsu's Dragon every day. Lucy yawned slightly before leaning back against Natsu's body, he was always warm and that helped her this time of year. It meant she didn't have to turn her heat on at night since she practically slept against her own personal human shaped heater.

Natsu knew that his Dragon was getting agitated with the girls coming over every day, and Erza wasn't helping the situation by challenging his Dragon on certain things. He was shocked that he hadn't attacked her yet. Maybe it was his emotions that were preventing his body from moving while his Dragon was in control… If he really thought about it… it kind of made sense to him, they may share a body but his mind and emotions were dominate. _Don't ever attack the red head or we'll both be in a world of pain, do you understand? __**If she challenge, then me fight.**_ Natsu sighed inwardly at his answer, he knew that the next time she challenged him he most definitely would attack her no matter if he himself was slightly scared of her.

In the next instant Lucy's front door banged open and in walked the scarlet haired woman herself, her eyes fell on Lucy and Natsu's Dragon who still had his arms around her barely dressed body. "Natsu!" Erza growled as she requiped a sword and pointed it in his direction. She cautiously took threatening steps towards them, a low growl sounded and increased in volume as she got closer. His Dragon pushed Lucy behind him as his already sharp claws extended to an even greater length before he jumped off the bed, his speed was faster than Natsu himself had ever ran when fighting in a serious battle. He took a swipe at Erza and to her surprise he managed to cut through her armor in that one strike, next he went for her sword and that too was broken in half by his powerful strikes.

Lucy was starting to panic, should she try and prevent him from hurting Erza or would it be better to just wait and see what happens. She made up her mind faster then she thought she would, she jumped off the bed and ran pushing Erza out of the way of her Dragon's claws only to be damaged in the process. Lucy fell to the ground bleeding profusely from her side where his claws had added blood red to her once pale skin. "Na-tsu," was all she could get out before passing out from the pain.

_Lucy! __**Mate jumped in fight…**__ I told you not to fight Erza, now look what happened because your control broke. Lucy…That's it I'm going to take control even if I have to force it._ Natsu's body fell to his knees in front of Lucy's fallen form, something between a growl and a scream leaving his mouth. His eyes flashed back to his regular forest green as he looked around the room and spotted Wendy who was frozen mid-step at the door. "Wendy, please help Lucy!" The girl unfroze at his pleading voice, the voice of the Natsu she knew. "R-right." The bluenette ran forward and placed her hands over Lucy's gaping wound, blood had already drenched her night gown leaving her a picture from a horror show. Natsu's gaze fell on Erza who was still a bit shocked as she lay on the ground from when Lucy pushed her out of the way. "I'm guessing you didn't bother to read the book did you Erza?" Natsu's voice was a bit cold since it was partially her fault this happened to Lucy.

"I-I well…no" Erza replied sitting up slightly, she was also surprised that Natsu's claws had been able to damage her armor and break one of her magical swords. She didn't realize he was powerful enough to do that much damage to her armor when his Dragon was in control, if she'd seriously had fought with him while he was like that… there's no doubt that she would have lost and been in Lucy's current state, only she would have been bleeding worse since his strike on her would have been fatal.

"My Dragon is majorly possessive and very protective, and from his point of view he saw you as a threat towards Lucy. It didn't matter that you were my friend. _**I **_wasn't the one in control Erza. Another thing is it's a built in need that he had to be in touching distance no matter the situation, and this includes sleeping next to her during the night. Don't just come here if you only know part of our situation, not _**everything**_ can be controlled by you even if you think it can." Natsu's words were followed by a deathly glare that made Erza flinch for the first time in a long time. He turned back to Wendy who for the most part had stopped the bleeding, now she was working on sealing up the wound. Natsu was pissed not only at Erza but at himself as well, how could he do that to her… better yet how could his Dragon do that to her.

"She needs blood Natsu. We should take her to the guild infirmary." Wendy's soft voice interrupted his thoughts before he gave her a slow nod. He slipped on his pants before grabbing his one sleeved jacket and wrapping it around Lucy's bloody figure. He gently lifted her up in his arms not bothering to put on his shoes as he strolled out her front door walking past Levy and Juvia on the way. Blood was staining his pants but he didn't care, all he could do was think of Lucy right now. He kicked the guild doors open surprising everyone inside, it then got extremely quiet when they noticed the girl in his arms and the blood soaking into his white pants.

Gray was the first to approach him, "Dude what happened to Lucy." The growl that left Natsu's mouth made Gray take a step back and away from the two. "I'm not in the mood to talk about that right now ice princess, she needs blood and that's the only reason why I'm here." Natsu turned away from him as he carried Lucy to the back of the guild where Makarov set up an infirmary for Wendy so she could help sick or injured members of the guild when they needed it.

Natsu was going to lay her down on a bed but Levy stopped him. "She needs to be cleaned of blood first Natsu, should I do it or would you rather it be you?" Her voice was a bit sad but he got what she was saying all the same. "I will, I don't know when he'll take over. Right now I know me being myself is only temporary till tomorrow." He looked down at Lucy's paler than normal face before noticing Levy had set a change of warm clothes on the bed. "I brought these knowing that she probably wouldn't like being naked in the guild." She giggled slightly at Natsu's horrified face at that thought, she knew he forgot all about that little problem because he was so worried about her friend.

Natsu coughed slightly before bringing Lucy and her clothes into the small bathroom in the infirmary, he gently set her in the bathtub and grabbed the showerhead and placed it by her feet. He gulped as he started stripping her of her bloody clothes. He turned on and adjusted the water to a lukewarm temperature, before turning to her with the showerhead in hand. He cleaned her of blood blushing the whole time before turning off the water to grab a towel to dry her. He very gently picked her up and set her on the counter drying off the water on her body, before putting her warm clothes on her.

By the time Natsu was finished Wendy had already set up everything she needed to, he gently put Lucy on the bed before Wendy put a needle into her arm. He sat next to Lucy holding her other hand and squeezing it gently, hoping that she'd wake up soon to let him know she was okay. He noticed Gray standing by the door talking to Juvia, he didn't know why but his mind was being pulled back into his body. His Dragon's claws had grown back, the amber eyes also flashed back into place where his once forest green ones had just been. The marks on his face appeared slowly and his eyes narrowed at the male, all his Dragon could see was a male near his mate where he shouldn't be.

Gray had turned to look at Natsu only to come face to face with something that looked like it wanted to kill him, he stepped out of the doorway before Natsu charged after him claws extended only to collide with an invisible wall which took the wind out of his sails. _Thank God it's one of Freed's enchantments._** "Magic." **His Dragon growled as he clawed at the invisible wall trying to figure out how to break it so he could get to the male on the other side, it wasn't long before he felt a needle pierce his shoulder. He snapped in the direction of whoever dared to touch him only to find Wendy shaking as she pushed the liquid into his blood stream, his body started to feel weak and it wasn't long before he hit the ground trying to prevent himself from falling asleep due to the medicine in whatever Wendy's syringe had in it.

Wendy was still shaking even after Natsu had finally lost to the medicine that the Master thought would be best for him, all because he'd found out he would have killed any male in the guild just for being so close to Lucy. "I'm sorry Natsu…" She mumbled as she dropped the syringe in the waste basket, she had tears leaking from her eyes before she felt someone patting her head. She looked up into Gray's face as he smiled at the young mage. "You did what you had to. It's not your fault anyway. Natsu would have been ashamed of himself if he'd hurt anyone even though he wasn't the one in control, and that kind of includes me even if he won't admit it." Gray sighed as he picked up Natsu's fallen form and put him in the bed on the right side of Lucy, knowing that the first thing he'd want to see would be her face. "Let's leave them alone for now, okay?" Gray said watching Wendy as she nodded her head and they both disappeared from the room and shut the door.

_**==2 Hours Later==**_

Lucy's eyes slowly blinked open as she sat up slightly. She winced before looking at her arm. Her eyes followed the IV up to the bags of blood and water as they flowed into her body. She then proceeded to look around the room when she noticed this wasn't her house, she saw Natsu in the bed to her left for some reason. "Must be in the guild…" She mumbled to herself before hearing the door slowly open and Wendy's head peek in to see if she was okay, she watched the young girl light up when she realized Lucy was awake.

Wendy's eyes then turned to Natsu who was still out cold. "I think I gave him too much of that medicine or his body is taking too long to get rid of it…" Lucy lifted an eyebrow at her in question. "He tried to attack Gray. Well I should say his Dragon tried to attack Gray." Wendy saw Lucy about to ask her something. "Freed put an enchantment on the door so I was able to inject him with something Master gave me while he was still preoccupied with trying to get to Gray." Lucy sighed since that wasn't the question she wanted to ask, but it was nice to know anyway. "How did I get here Wendy? I'm not supposed to be around other males anyway, that's what the book says." It was at that moment she noticed the dry blood on the floor near her bed. _I was still bleeding then, no that can't be it if Wendy was there… _Lucy noticed that Natsu was topless and that the clothes she was wearing were not her night gown of the night before.

"Natsu carried you here after he somehow took control of his body for a short period of time. He used his jacket to cover you and even washed the blood off you and changed you into that, since he knew he couldn't remain in control of his own body. I bet he felt horrible for striking you with his claws." Wendy said while giving Natsu a sad look then turned to Lucy as she came into the room fully. "I think the IV should be done in an hour or so, maybe even two are you hungry right now?" Lucy blinked at her slightly before nodding her head. "Be right back I'll ask Mira to make some soup for you since its cold." She smiled brightly before running out of the room.

Lucy's gaze fell on Natsu again. _It's not his fault, he knows that right… I mean I jumped in his way knowing I'd get injured anyway, I guess that wasn't the right choice. No! It was! If it wasn't then he would have hurt Erza even worse in that state. _Her thoughts were interrupted by Wendy as she came back with a bowl of soup, which was done pretty fast. "Mira already had some ready for the guild members so she gave me a hot bowl for you." Wendy smiled as she walked over to Lucy's side carefully as not to spill the soup, she gently set it down on the table in between Lucy and Natsu's beds. "Thank you Wendy." Lucy smiled as she lifted up the bowl and started eating since she hadn't been able to make anything this morning she was really hungry.

Wendy pulled up a chair in between Natsu and Lucy, before reaching over to check Natsu's pulse. It was a tad slow but not to the point of extreme worry, so she decided she might need to give him an IV with water to help flush out the medicine faster. "I'll be right back Lucy, I'm going to set Natsu up with an IV of fresh fluid to help get rid of the sedative faster." Wendy smiled at Lucy before rushing into the main office of the infirmary for the equipment she'd need, and a bag of fluids. She came rushing back with an IV pole, a bag of fluid, IV needle equipment, and wipes to clean the skin before inserting the needle.

To Lucy's surprise the wind mage was speedy with her task, must have been due to staying with Porlyusica for a couple of months about half a year ago (which was pretty strange). As soon as she was finished Wendy turned to her and presented her with the book Levy had given her. "I thought you might want to read it some more since the first week is almost finished, and since Natsu is still out cold." Lucy was grateful as she took the book in the hand that wasn't holding her bowl of soup. "I've got a job with Romeo so I have to leave, but you and Natsu should be okay for now." Wendy blushed slightly at the sly grin that crossed Lucy's face. Wendy stood up quickly and exited the room leaving Lucy to her thoughts and to her food.

Lucy sighed to herself as she finished her soup; she was eyeing her book the whole time. She didn't know what to expect this time around, she hoped it wasn't too bad. Lucy set her empty bowl down on the side table before lifting up her book and opening it up to the second chapter.

_**==Book Reading==**_

_Chapter Two: Accepting the Bond_

_You've made it through chapter one Congratulations! Now for the next week your Dragon Slayer will be himself again, but this time he'll be very affectionate. The reason for this is to create a certain bond with his mate, there are many different bonds that can occur, a common one is the ability to know where their mate is at all times. The mate mark on the female tends to tingle when her Dragon Slayer is close by, but this mark doesn't form until the last week of the Dragon Slayer Mating Heat. Although that is so another mark will appear somewhere on the females body, this mark is a personal one that only the Dragon Slayer should be able to see. If any male other than your Dragon Slayer is able to see it then this could cause him to go berserk and attack those around his mate, lucky for us it tends to appear on a part of your body you do not wish to show anyone. For example mine is located on my rear end in a place that my undergarment can conceal it, there are few that can be located on the underside of your wrists; or even at the base of your neck that can be concealed by long hair. There is a rare ability that only a select few are able to have. It allows you and your mate to talk telepathically along with a few sub-abilities such as locating your mate, feeling their emotions, and knowing when they are in pain or being threatened. This bond tends to develop slowly, usually lasting the whole week. If it develops at a fast rate then your Dragon Slayer must have stronger feelings for you than you realize. He himself might not know this either but over time he will see it and strengthen it further. A down side to this bond is that it connects you and your Dragon Slayers life forces, if one dies so does the other. The reason this is so is because without his mate by his side the Dragon Slayer can go insane resulting in a killing spree. Now I will go into great detail about this particular week—_

_**==Book Slamming Shut==**_

_If one dies so does the other…_ This couldn't be happening to her, she knew Natsu was strong and wouldn't die easily, but she on the other hand was very vulnerable to attacks and she could die in an instant. She looked over at Natsu her eyes expressing sorrow at this news; she knew he couldn't protect her forever. Lucy didn't know what to do, how could she drag Natsu down with her when she cared about him so much? She looked at her IV her eyes blurring as unshed tears swelled in her eyes. _I can't… I can't do this to him._ She pulled the IV out of her arm not caring that she was bleeding, before pulling down her sleeve putting pressure to her arm though the cloth. Lucy got to her feet slowly knowing she was still weak, but she knew her legs were strong enough to make it back to her house. She snuck out of the infirmary and moved silently to the back of the guild, she made as little noise as she could before making a mad dash out the back door. Lucy knew that Natsu was stuck in that room due to Freed's enchantment; it would give her time to pack her things and leave. She figured if the bond didn't form it wouldn't affect them, or at least that's what she was hoping.

_**==Back at the Fairy Tail Guild (2 Hours Later)==**_

Natsu's eyes opened slowly the amber shining slightly as he blinked away the fogginess in his mind; he turned his head looking for Lucy only to see her IV equipment sitting there by itself almost all drained of the blood within it. Natsu growled at his Mate that was no longer there before ripping out his own IV and heading for the door. _I wouldn't do that if I we're you, or have you already forgotten that we're stuck in here due to Freed's enchantment. __**Magic pain in ass.**__ Hey you're talking about yourself too you know. __**No me talk about you. **__Damn bastard… _Natsu's Dragon looked out the door for someone who might be passing by, and to his luck he spotted Levy. **"Smelly Dragon Mate!" **Natsu wanted to smack his hand to his face at the way his Dragon decided to call Levy over.

Levy froze when she heard what Natsu's Dragon said about her Mate; she turned and glared in his direction before noticing the way he was looking at her. She approached slowly before stopping in front of the door peering around Natsu's head to the bed her friend was supposed to be in. "Lucy! Where is she?" She growled at the Dragon surprising him at how well she did it, before he noticed a new smell coming off the bluenette making his nose twitch. **"Mate gone when woke up, me not know where went." **Levy looked up at Natsu knowing that he didn't lie; she took out her magic pen and started rewriting the enchantment as fast as she could.

The lines exploded upon her final symbol allowing Natsu through the door, she gently placed her hand on his chest as she spoke. "Be careful what you say to her, she might have a reason for going anywhere without you." Levy then stepped out of the Dragon Slayers way noticing the odd expression he gave her before following Lucy's scent. "She doesn't want you to die. She just doesn't understand that she'll die a little inside the longer you are separated from each other." Levy whispered to herself.

_**==With Lucy==**_

Lucy was almost done packing when her front door slammed open. She spun around so fast she nearly fell over. There in her door way stood Natsu's Dragon, a low growl leaving his mouth as he approached her. "Na-Natsu?" How did he get out, her thoughts were speeding a mile a minute. "Levy…" That was all she could come up with since she knew Freed wouldn't have taken down his spell knowing that Natsu could attack anyone in the guild. Lucy backed away the closer he got to her before the back of her knees hit her bed and she fell back onto it. Once he reached her he leaned over placing his arms near her head, his body caging her in as their eyes met.

Natsu's Dragon took in her scent a bit relieved that she didn't smell like another male. His eyes noticed the bags on her floor, almost everything in the house was gone, he knew why. **"Why Mate trying to leave?"** He watched her expression change from shock, to sadness as she covered her face with her hands. A salty smell wafted into his nose as he looked down at her. _She's crying… Did you scare her or something? I don't understand this situation one bit. __**Mate knows next stage…**_ Natsu was confused, _what's the next stage then? __**Mate tell tomorrow, now she need rest.**__ Well that's a good way of avoiding my question…_ His Dragon lifted Lucy up and settled her under the sheets, a clawed finger running through her hair as he released her. **"Mate tell human side tomorrow."** He saw Lucy nod her head slowly as she curled into the blankets. Natsu's body slid in after her as soon as he took off his blood stained pants. He pulled her close as he settled in next to her and held her for the rest of the day, sleep taking her just before sun set.

_**==Week 1 Day 7 (12pm)==**_

Eyes blinked open as said person looked around drowsily, and then turned to look beside them at the beautiful blonde next to him curled up against his side. The forest green eyes then turned to look up at the clock; he could read that it said twelve in the afternoon. Movement next to him surprised him as a pair of chocolate brown eyes looked up at him, finally noticing the familiar eye color and clear face without markings. "Natsu!" She yelled as she flung herself at him clinging to his neck, he fell over at the impact landing hard on his back on the floor. "I'm so glad you're back to normal." Lucy smiled down at Natsu not realizing the awkward way their bodies had landed.

"Uh…Luce could you get off me please." Natsu said as he blushed looking away from her face. Lucy gave him a confused look before looking at how their bodies had landed. Her face flushed with color when she saw their position, she'd landed straddling his hips with her chest flush against his own. She started moving to get off him when a sensual groan made her freeze, her gaze returned to Natsu's face but it was still turned to the side. Even though a little of his expression could be seen from where she sat, he had bitten his lip to quiet himself while waiting for her to get off him. Lucy's eyes widened when she felt something hard against her butt, _oh lord I'm turning him on. So, all that attraction wasn't just the Dragon after all._ She got to her feet struggling as the sensual noises continued to leave her partners mouth, making an almost permanent blush take residents on her face.

Natsu covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. _Could this be any more awkward? I mean come on it was bad enough when my Dragon was in control, speaking of Dragon I haven't heard him once since I woke up… normally he'd be bugging the hell out of me. _Natsu sat up slowly taking his hands off his face in the process his face still slightly pink, he looked over at his discarded pants with dark red blood strains over taking the white of the fabric. _Guess those are done for, I think I have another pair in the bag I leave here. _He tried to avoid eye contact with Lucy as he searched for his bag of spare clothes he kept here with her, just in case he ever needed them…like now. As soon as he grabbed them he felt arms encircle his waist, which offered him a sense of comfort. Natsu chuckled to himself, "missed you too Luce." He couldn't help that his mood was lifted just by her simple touch.

"Your Dragon was okay but I don't think I could have lived with him for another week, I'm just really happy that you won't kill any guys just for being near me. Although knowing you and Gray you'll both do something stupid which ticks Erza off and you'll both be in for it." Lucy laughed out loud at feeling Natsu shiver at her statement. That meant that her Natsu was really back and that made her so happy. She let go of him so that he could get dressed, although she didn't understand why he dressed like it was summer when winter was fast approaching. Lucy then realized she should be getting changed as well. Maybe a thick pair of leggings, a winter skirt, all together with a long sleeved sweater, she grabbed her clothes and started undressing in front of Natsu. It was only when she looked up that she noticed blood leaking out of his nose, and that weird shocked expression he had as he stared at her half naked body.

"I know you could see everything that was going on this past week. You've seen me naked in the shower more than once. I mean this isn't something to get a nose bleed over. I'm just in my underwear." Lucy huffed as she pulled on her clothes, before sitting on her bed crossing her legs as she looked at him. She saw him turn away but not before seeing his flushed face. _Awe he's so cute like that, reminds me of the time I heard from Mira that Natsu liked me. But back then it wasn't true and I felt like an idiot for listening to her. I'm really glad that changed, and that he picked me over Lisanna. I mean I like the girl I was just envious of her history with Natsu, and that she knew more about him than I did. Then again even after she came back he still kept sneaking into my bed rather than Lisanna's. _Lucy giggled slightly at that thought considering she always booted him out of it when she woke up next to him.

_Yeah you're in your underwear but why did it have to be red lacy ones, I mean when my Dragon was in control they were always plain ones with different colors. Okay forget about that and think of something else…like how we can get money for Lucy's rent. _The blush on his face disappeared as he faced Lucy again, "Do you think Team Natsu should go on a mission to get money for your rent?" He watched as realization crossed her face before she stood up grabbed his arm and proceeded to drag him out her front door. He didn't even resist her as she led him by the arm to the Fairy Tail guild. As soon as they entered the guild it got quiet just like yesterday, only this time everyone was weary of him. That is before a little blue blur crashed into his chest almost resulting him falling down on his ass. "Hey Happy missed you too little buddy." Natsu smiled as he hugged his little blue friend. Everyone let out a relieved breath before going back to whatever they were doing.

"Yo flame brain you're finally back to normal, though your Dragon had more guts than you do." Gray started laughing remembering how Erza looked yesterday after she had her run in with Natsu's Dragon at Lucy's house. His laugh was cut off when a fiery fist met his face. "Like you're one to talk Ice Princess." Natsu glared at the striper ice mage before Gray lunged at him starting yet again another fight in the Fairy Tail Guild. It wasn't long before Gajeel and Elfman were dragged into the brawl leaving they're women sitting at their tables shaking their heads at the foolishness of their boyfriend/husband.

Lucy sighed but let a smile spread on her face. _They never change, but that's one thing about Fairy Tail that makes it a great place to be._ Lucy headed for the bar taking a seat next to Erza who had a half-eaten strawberry cake sitting in front of her. Lucy ordered a hot cocoa and some of the soup she'd eaten yesterday before she ran off. Someone else took a seat next to her before placing a book in front of her; she turned her head only to come face to face with Levy. "Sorry about yesterday Levy, I just couldn't handle what I read." Levy smiled at her, "don't worry Lulu you're not the only one who reacted that way just before the second stage." This surprised Lucy before she looked at the book in front of her. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked in the direction of a guilt ridden Erza. "Sorry about yesterday Lucy, I over-reacted to what I saw when it must have been an innocent situation." Lucy hugged the red head next to her. "No problem Erza, I'm just glad you're okay." Lucy turned away from her friend when her food arrived.

Natsu felt something odd take hold of him in the middle of his fight with Gray and a few others; he managed to dodge anything that came at him which was a surprise before his body was drawn closer to Lucy. He left the fight only to come to a halt behind a clueless Lucy who was getting ready to eat her food. Levy eyed him slightly knowing what he was feeling, she wished she had her camera to take a picture of the look on Lucy's face when she realized what was going on. Natsu placed his arms on either side of his Mate caging her in at the bar; she turned around in her seat to glare at him. "Natsu what are you do-" She was cut off when his slightly rough lips met her soft plump ones. She was so shocked that she didn't have time to respond to his kiss before he pulled away from her.

_A-affectionate right…_ Were the first thoughts that entered her mind, although she wasn't expecting him to kiss her right off the bat. Oh and boy what a kiss it was. Although now she wondered where he learned to do it from, because she really didn't think the Natsu she knew could kiss anything like that. After a few seconds everyone else in the room finally made her realize he'd done it right in the middle of the guild, and not only in front of all of their friends. Her face exploded with heat before she spun away from him to face her food, totally ignoring the man behind her to start on her food.

_What made me do that…? _Natsu totally spaced before ice crashed into the back of his head, totally throwing his focus back into the fight he'd abandoned. Erza had cake fall out of her mouth at what just happened between Natsu and Lucy. Levy leaned over and whispered. "Mating Heat week number two starting early, which is sort of new for me." Lucy's head snapped in Levy's direction at her whispered words. "THAT was part of week two. It's not even after midnight yet!" She half yelled/whispered at her female best friend before banging her forehead on the edge of the bar counter. "Where the hell did Natsu learn to kiss like that?!" She said low enough for Levy to hear it, which caused her to giggle slightly.

"I thought the same thing about Gajeel. That is until he told me it was just instinct and that he'd never kissed anyone before in his life, well except for that one time..." Levy giggled again at the look Gajeel gave her from his position across the room. Erza looked at Levy like she was crazy because she didn't realize Levy was mated to Gajeel. She knew he was her boyfriend just not that she'd gone through what Lucy was going through at the moment. "Okay off that subject now and onto the next…like my rent for example." Lucy said after finishing off her hot cocoa, her eyes looking to Erza for the answer. The scarlet haired women coughed before looking to the request board. "We can do an S-Class quest if we take Gajeel and Levy with us…" The only reason she suggested it was because two years ago Gajeel made S-Class, although she didn't know it was right after his own Mating Heat. She also knew that Gajeel wouldn't go anywhere with them if Levy didn't tag along.

"That's a great idea!" Lucy said hugging Levy to her large chest nearly suffocating the bluenette in the process. The petite girl squirmed in her arms finally getting the strength to pull herself from that space that was depriving her of oxygen. "I'm sure Gajeel will agree to it." Levy said eyeing Gajeel with a 'you better not disagree with me' look. He just looked the other way because you never want to make a woman angry with you if she happens to be your girlfriend, and because she's the only one who can hold sex out of your reach for weeks on end.

"Okay then its set, now I just need to go beat some sense into my own man." Lucy noticed what happened between the two and decided to drag Natsu out of his fight with Gray to tell him the news. "Meet you guys tomorrow bright and early. I'll leave picking the quest to you Erza." Lucy left her Jewels on the bar before getting out of her seat and pulling out one of her gate keys. "Open gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" A door bells ring echoed in the guild before a maid garment clad spirit appeared in front of Lucy. "Punishment time Princess?" The pink haired maiden kneeled down in front of her holder. "Well kind of, get Natsu out of there for me." Lucy pointed to the steadily growing guild fight going on centered around Natsu and Gray. "As you wish Princess." It wasn't long before men were sent flying around the room in all different directions, until a certain fire breather was thrown in Lucy's direction and landed at her feet. "Alright time to go home Mr. Flame thrower. I'll make you something to eat when we get there." Lucy said before taking hold of his hand and dragging a confused Natsu out the door. She waved back knowing that Virgo had already left the earthly realm.

"Lucy what's going on?" Natsu asked as soon as they entered her home through the front door. "We've got a mission tomorrow Natsu with our team and Gajeel and Levy." Lucy answered him as she shut and locked the door behind them. He was about to complain when she abruptly kissed him hard then turned away to look through her kitchen for food to feed him with. "You better not complain or I'll make you sleep on the couch tonight." Lucy said as she pulled out some bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes and set them down on the kitchen counter. Natsu knew when he shouldn't mess with things and decided to sit down at the table and watch her move around the kitchen. Although his eyes tended to wander down to her back side from time to time as she cooked the bacon she took out and toasted some bread for what he figured would be BLT's. Lucy set a plate of three BLT's in front of Natsu and one with one in front of where she planned to sit. She dug around in her cabinet for a bottle she had been saving, and poured the liquid into a fire proof class before setting it on fire and setting it in front of Natsu who had already finished one of his three BLT's.

Time passed as they each finished their food, Lucy was looking up at the clock when she was pulled out of her seat and into a set of very warm arms, which she wasn't complaining about. "Natsu! Lucy why did you leave without me?!" A very small voice called as a ball of blue fur smacked into Lucy's face clinging to her like a second skin. "Happy?" Natsu said dropping Lucy onto the floor out of shock. "Levy wouldn't tell me why but she didn't let me follow you guys as soon as you left." Happy's small voice whined as Lucy pried him off her face. She sighed as she got to her feet, "I don't have time for this right now I'm going to bed." She handed Happy to Natsu before going to change into her night gown, not caring that she was once again changing in front of him plus Happy.

"Why's Lucy acting funny?" Natsu's little blue friend asked him not realizing that said man's face was once again flushed with color like it had been when they woke up earlier that day. "Uh Happy, Lucy and I are kind of going through something right now that to others would be pretty strange. Would you mind hanging out with Lisanna for the rest of the month, I'll explain everything to you when you come back okay?" Natsu asked his little friend who gave him a weird look. "I'll get you a lot of fish if you'll do what I ask." His friend lit up and nodded his little blue head before zooming past a half-naked Lucy and out her bedroom window.

Natsu shook his head before going after Lucy, who by the time he got there was already tucked into bed. "Luce sorry about earlier, Happy is going to stay with Lisanna for the rest of my Mating Heat." Her eyes watched him as he started undressing. _Now this is something I can get used to, gah bad Lucy._ Lucy moved over a little allowing him to follow her into bed, which would probably be his too by the way things were going. Even before this week he'd practically lived at her place anyway. "It's not a problem Natsu let's just get to bed, I told Erza we'd be at the guild bright and early in the morning." Lucy yawned slightly before snuggling up against his side placing her head against his chest, which was a reverse in their roles from this past week. "Alright Luce, sweet dreams." Natsu gently kissed her forehead before closing his eyes letting sleep take hold of them both.

* * *

_**AN:**_ So sorry this took so long, by the way has anyone read the new FT chapter it made me squeal in happiness. Anyway on the week two for our little NaLu couple, hope to hear back from my reviewers about this chapter it really makes me happy. This also took longer because this chapter is the most I've ever written for a single chapter. Luv you guys…xoxo.


	5. Author's Notice (Not a very bad one)

Notice for reader of Fragmented Soul

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted a new chapter for this fanfiction of mine. I've just started going back to school to be in the video game industry, and it doesn't help that I have so many medical issues that the time I'm not in class I have doctor's appointment or blood work tests to do. I will try and write a new chapter if I have any spare time, it might take a while so I wanted to let you guys know that this story is **NOT** dead for me. I have a few ideas of which direction this story is going in so have no fear if you don't see a new chapter from me for a while. Just be on the lookout for it when you can. As soon as I get the next chapter done I'll delete this notice or move it to after said chapter so others won't worry about this stories progress.

Lots of love to you all. XOXO


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